“Crown Him with many crowns, the Lord sitting upon his father David’s throne!” shouted Peter as he continued cleaning a variety of fish he had netted in the Great Sea. John and James were sitting beside him on the beach watching merchant ships navigate through the colossal semi-circular barrier reef that the Romans had engineered at Caesarea Maritima. As the three fishermen sat there they marveled and discussed how the Romans were able to pour and fasten concrete to the ocean floor.
Behind them was the grand outdoor amphitheater. A touring Roman theatre group was performing for two nights “Sketches of Roma” a delightful comedy about life in the world’s capitol. Centurion Cornelius was in charge of security for the show. Rumors were circulating about Jesus from Nazareth and the zealots that were following Him. the Romans had increased security that week fearing an uprising.
Although Jesus had never done anything violent these zealots had instigated many uprisings during Roman holidays and were now following this young prophet. You see, Jesus from Nazareth had been producing miracles, teaching with great authority, healing leper’s sores, lame legs and returning sight to the blind. These zealots had been waiting for a mighty leader to lead their rebellion and so the Romans watched them with interest.
Jesus, knowing that He was a person of interest, had secretly disappeared and walked back to Nazareth to see his mother and siblings. Yosef, Jesus’ step father, had unfortunately died several years ago in a construction accident. He had been employed by the Romans to construct and set wooden forms to hold hydraulic concrete which were being used in remodeling a section of the quay. Jesus missed his father and this place always reminded him of his untimely death. He loved to visit Caesarea Maritima and admire the great harbor his father had been employed to work on pushing aside the sadness in his heart.
Jesus’ disciples had hauled in a huge catch after their Master had suggested throwing in their net one more time over the right side of their boat. Because of the Roman holidays the Centurion Cornelius was keeping all Hebrews away from the amphitheater. Peter had landed the boat near the south end of the quay and bit too close for Cornelius. As Peter began sorting and cleaning their catch Cornelius approached James and John and greeted them in their native language. “Shalom my friends” said Cornelius with a smile that totally caught the fishermen off guard.
“Are you a friend of the Jew?” asked John respectively as the centurion’s short sword clanked and dangled back and forth.
“Well I don’t know your god but I believe there is only one, true and living god, these Romans worship the stars and childish myths of the Greeks and I have no time for such non sense.” said the Roman centurion.
“I see you had a good catch today! Do you have the necessary papers to fish here?” Asked Cornelius speaking now as he turned towards Peter.
“Yes, good the Lord has blessed us with many fish today!” smiled Simon Peter handing the permit to the centurion. “We were here with our Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, perhaps you have heard of Him?” Peter continued.
“My Jewish friend, who has not heard of Jesus of Nazareth? The one who heals the sick and makes the the lame walk again. We have even heard he changed water into wine. Unfortunately, he is a known rabble rouser and that is why I have approached you. I’ll have to ask you to put your boat back into the water and move further down the shore. I have orders to keep this area clear around the amphitheater. If it was up to me you can. stay, but I follow orders.” said Cornelius sternly handing the papers back to Peter.
John and James began to put the boat back into the water as Peter gathered up the net and catch. Peter put a short cord through the gills of 3 of his largest fish and handed them to the Centurion. Cornelius smiled, grabbed the cord and thanked Peter for his generous gift. Soon the three fishermen were under sail on a broad reach heading south on their way back to Joppa.
In the past, Cornelius had secretly wondered about the Jew’s god and now his curiosity was peaked by Peter’s generosity. Peter knew there was something different about Cornelius and suddenly remembered what Jesus had said to him years earlier by the Sea of Galilee “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men”
“ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.“
The way we live our lives, the way we treat others determines whether or not we will have any influence in the community of people surrounding us.
